Nadia's Baking Heaven

15 Minutes of Fame

For the last 9 Wednesdays I have tried to be firmly sat on the sofa to watch the Great British Bake Off which of course has made me think of my own TV debut 2 years ago (and the 5 minutes of fame which followed). I had the chance to participate in a local, small scale (Christmas) version of the Bake off and let me tell you – it was the best!!! You can read more here and see some snaps on my original blog post about it. It seemed as if it would be a one-off thing though so imagine my surprise when I found out it is happening again this year. Not only this but they also used my cake for the poster. Needless to say, I have already shared it all over the Internet and how could I miss my blog?

As the winner of the previous cake off, I will actually be participating as a judge this year (how exciting!!!!) and I do recommend it to all bakers in and around Gibraltar. I had a blast and it is definitely a story I will be telling my grandchildren one day. Now go and email them quick, you only have time until October 15th to secure your place. You won’t regret it, I promise. And I will not be as harsh as Mary Berry or Paul Holywood. Just sayin’.

This blog post is well overdue but I am a strong believer in ‘better late than never’ so there you go. I am proud to be part of the team of Gibraltar’s new online magazine ‘Mum on the Rock‘ and, you guys, I have the BEST title in the world: Baker Extraordinaire!

The first issue came out in the beginning of September and I produced National Day inspired Rice Krispies cake pops, you can find the recipe here. If all goes well, every month you will be able to read another exciting article written by yours truly!

I have been extremely excited about this project and this is the place to thank Polly who is behind ‘Mum on the Rock’ and who so warmly encouraged me after the revival of ‘Cupcakes & Unicorns’. At the time we were just fellow bloggers who followed each other on Twitter and it was great for me to receive such posotive feedback from someone who isn’t a close friend or family! She gave me the confidence I needed to believe a little more in myself and what I do. And this is a debt not easy to repay but thank you for everything, Polly! Thank you for your encouragement and for giving me the chance to be part of this amazing team of ‘Mum on the Rock’. Looking forward to what the future has in stock!

For a second year in a row, a few local businesses organised a 4th of July party in Gibraltar. And for a second year in a row, Cupcakes & Unicorns had a small dessert stall. Picture plenty of oreos, marshmallows, brownies, NYC style cheesecake. Luckily, this year I was able to spend less time on decorations (since I managed to recycle some from last year, plus the awesome Whitney and Alan just came back from a US trip and brought some fantastic goodies, including my little top hat) and more time on baking. This is what it looked like:

Unfortunately, it turned out the Miss Gibraltar 2015 beauty pageant appealed more to the local audience so not a lot of people came to the event. It was still good fun though, and the local Nazareth House received a donation of brownies, cookies and whoopie pies to give out to the less fortunate amongst ones. Also, mine and G’s colleagues and friends did not mind devouring any left overs.

Here’s to you, America. Hope you all there across the pond had a lovely 4th of July weekend.

Today was totally one of those days. My Out-Of-Office no longer ‘protecting’ me, very tired yet high on caffeine, 300 million things to do – in my world this automatically means highly irritable, flashing a red ‘Beware’ sign on my forehead. Until a personal email came in late in the afternoon – from the contact form of this humble blog no less. Suddenly I couldn’t erase the stupidest grin off my face, my work inbox no longer seemed overwhelming and having to stay in the office late no was not a chore anymore. But… since it is concerning more of a long-term project, I will keep this a secret for now. Not an easy task, I tell you – if it was up to me I would be screaming at the top of my voice for the entire baking & blogging world to know but let’s not jinx it just yet 😉

It did, however, remind me I still haven’t posted any details of another special encounter. Sometimes you really wish for something to happen. You envision it many times in your head, you tweet (a lot) about it, yet nothing happens. Eventually you get tired of constantly refreshing Twitter and move on, thinking it wasn’t meant to happen, maybe another time etc. A little part of you keeps dreaming though. But enough talking in code.

I had been dying to meet Jemma. I had tweeted her and her shop in Soho. No reply. Nothing. But I found myself in her shop on a recent business trip to London. The girl behind the counter was nice enough while I was silently debating on how many mini cupcakes I can gorge on without being sick. But then Jemma walked in. My hero. My idol. The one. We exchanged small talk, I ended up buying all 7 available flavours of mini cupcakes, she even agreed to take a picture of me, and I walked away. The happiest person on Earth. Whatsapping the photo to a select group of people while still outside the shop. Ecstatic. It wasn’t much, a 2 minute conversation with no real significance but you guys, I met her. And what I am trying to say is, keep dreaming. Even if the outcome is not guaranteed (it never will be), even if you have been discouraged before, even if you think your dream is beyond far fetched. Keep dreaming. And when it happens, you will mentally high-five yourself and you will hopefully remember my advice and whisper a thank you to me. You’re welcome.

Living in Gibraltar has it’s ups and downs. While everyday life is not overly exciting, it is also good that not much happens so you get a whole page spread in a local magazine if you (participate in or) win a baking competition!

P.S. I have just noticed that the show is still available to watch online on the website of the local TV. Not sure how long it is available there for but for the time being, if you have spare 50 minutes and would like to see it, here you GO.